An office receptionist is nearly always responsible for answering the company telephone and writing down the name and telephone number of the caller, the date and time of the call, as well as the name of the person for whom the written message is prepared. In a typical telephone call the person answering the phone records the date, time, name of the caller, name of the person who will receive the message, and any additional information to be conveyed in the message. For the convenience of the receptionist, pads of paper with form blanks for date, time, and names and additional predefined messages such as “returned your call”, “will call again”, “wants to see you” and the like, with check boxes adjacent to the predefined messages, are available from office supply stores. Adhesive backed memo pads are also available wherein the memo can be stuck to a surface as a result of the adhesive on the underside of the paper surface.
Normally, the written message is placed in a message holder with employee names attached thereto, and employees pick up their messages at the receptionist desk at their next convenience. Alternatively, the receptionist might physically deliver the messages to the office of the recipient, or secretaries may attend to this task. In either scenario, valuable work time is lost while employees transport small pieces of paper with simple messages around the office. Occasionally, the receptionist needs to deliver the message immediately to the recipient, particularly if the recipient is already using the phone in his/her office, is in a meeting and does not wish to receive telephone calls, or if there is some urgency associated therewith. When immediate delivery is required, physical delivery of the message is inconvenient and distracting in regard to the receptionists other duties and forces the receptionist to forego other duties.
There are computer based messaging systems that utilize a personal computer for receiving telephone message data input from the receptionist and transmitting the messages to the recipient's computer via local area networks. However, if the recipient's computer is not powered on, or a network problem exists, or a power outage occurs and backup batteries are not in use, or the appropriate programs are not running on the recipient's computer, such a computer based messaging system fails to provide that which is needed, a messaging system for conveying telephone call messages. In addition, where a personal computer is not needed to carry out an employees job responsibilities, the cost of a personal computer is not justified simply for receiving telephone call messages or memos.
In smaller organizations wherein various employees may be responsible for answering telephone calls, it becomes necessary for each employee to have available a telephone message memo pad and write down telephone memos or messages when calls are received. Further, the memos must be delivered to the appropriate recipient, and again, a loss of working time is generated delivering memos around the office to the recipient.
What is needed is a device that provides added convenience to the user in creating electronic telephone messages or memos and dispatching same to the appropriate recipient immediately. Such a device should take advantage of existing office wiring and telephone systems so that installation and use thereof is relatively inexpensive. In addition, the device should include electronics to automate the entry of some of the necessary data, such as date and time of the call, as well as telephone caller ID data.